Karen Doyle, a former TUI (UK) manager who left the company last May, has pleaded guilty to fraud after stealing more than £63,000 ($82,000) worth of gift vouchers over a period of seven years during her tenure at the company. She joined TUI in June 2009 as general manager cruise distribution. Before her departure, Doyle was Marella Cruises general manager of supplier management and ancillary revenue.
According to court documents, the fraud was committed between February 2011 and February 2018; during this time £63,454 worth of gift vouchers were used “for her own gain.”
Doyle, who appeared at Luton Crown Court on Oct. 1, under her maiden name, Karen Mitchell, was released on unconditional bail. She is scheduled to be sentenced on October 22.
According to the charges to which she pled guilty, “Karen Mitchell abused her position as a senior manager at TUI UK & Ireland in which you were expected to safeguard, or not act against, the financial interests of another, namely TUI, by representing that you were entitled to use gift vouchers in the sum of £63,945 in breach of Section 4 of the Fraud Act 2006.”
According to her LinkedIn entry, before joining TUI in 2009, Doyle, whose career in the tour and travel industry spans three decades, served as: branch manager for Thomas Cook (April 1988-April 1990); account executive at Cunard Cruise Line (April 1990-July 1994); national account manager for Air UK (July 1994-April 1998); and head of national accounts at Royal Caribbean International (April 1998-June 2009).
